Tilting head press



Nov. 27, 1951 Filed Oct. 14, 1948 E. B. SUTHERLAND TILTING HEAD PRESS FIG. 1

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Eugene B. Sutherland Mae Fil ed Oct. 14, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.

INVENTOR. Eugene B. Sutherland Htforrzegs NOV. 27, 195] E, B SUTHERLAND 2,576,547

TILTING HEAD PRESS Filed 001;. 14, 1948 s Sheets-Shet s Flllb lull 11 F5 3 um m H II I. mmsxmmiw L 1/ 1 1/ llhul INVENTOR.

Eugene E). Sutheriand Patented Nov. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Emmett Machine & Manufacturing,

Inc.,

Akron, Ohio, a corporation Application-OctoberM, 1948, Serial No. 54,446

8 Claims.

This applicationrelates to tilting head presses,

especially to a tilting head hydraulic press-which is particularly suited for. use in the rubber or plastics industry. for the. production of large quantities of .relatively small parts.

The general object of the. present invention is to provide a novel, improved tilting head hydraulic press. which is characterized by its compactness and by itsefiiciency of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tilting head press. wherein mold sections carried by the press can be accurately registered with each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a press which is very convenient to load and from which it is easy to strip molded parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide ahydraulic. press that is particularly adapted for high speed operation, but which is characterized by its inherent safety for the operator.

Another objectof the invention .is to provide a press which is convenient for the operator to manipulate and control and which can be easily adjusted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel opening mechanism and action for a press wherein one of the press sections is first moved parallel withrelation to the other press section and thereafter swung arcuately with relation to the other press section.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be made more apparent as the specification proceeds.

Attention now is particularly directed to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is an elevation, partially in vertical section, of a press embodying the principles of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a. horizontal section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detailed vertical section taken. on line 44 of. Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 is. a detailed vertical section taken on line 55 of Fig. 2.

The present invention, broadly speaking, relates to a press including a press platen which is slidably carried by a pair of support or hanger arms which are pivotally carried by the frame for the press. The press platen has means associated with opposite front and rear edge portions thereof for limiting movement of the platen in both directions with relation to the frame,- and means, such as a rack and pinion, are provided serve as supports therefor.

21 for connecting, the press platen to the hanger arms in suchamanner that. the rack can slide. the platen. substantially horizontally with relation to its hanger arms to an extremity of its movement after which the rack and pinion or. other, equivalent means can cause. arcuate movement of the hanger. arms and press platen as a unit to expose the mold section carried thereby.

The, press of the invention, is generally re-.

ferred to by the numeral I andthis press is carried by a plurality. of-..s.upport,posts- 2 so as. to position the machine I at. any desired height. The machine or press of the invention comprises a frame which ismade froma plurality otvertically extending posts 3 which are positioned at the marginal portions or corners of the machine and A. head p t r member 4 issecureclto and suitably positioned by the supportposts 3 atthe upper extremities thereof. Nuts 4? may engage with the postsv 3 to aid in positioning themember 4. The press I.

includes. two platens. an. pper platen 5 and a lower platen filwith' thelower platen,in this instance, being slidably carried by the posts. and being supported by a piston rod I which is adapted to. reciprocatealong the vertical axisof the press I. This piston rod 1 may be positioned by anyv suitable means. and be moved. in any desired manner. One particularly desirable type of apparatus; forsupporting and controlling movement. of the lower platen B, isthe means shown and described in more detail in, my 00-.- pending patent application. Serial No. 54,445, filed October 14,, 1948, wherein a novel press piston control..means,ar,e described and claimed.

In. all events, the. lower platen 6 has a hole 8 formed therein in each: corner thereof and bushings 9 are. received. therein for telescoping engagement with. the support posts-3 whereby the vertical movement. of. the lower platen, 6; can be accurately'established. and controlled so that the lower platen. will be retained horizontal in all instances .and willa bemoved. vertically of the press by the control. means: provided therefor. Usually a source of hydraulic pressure fluid controls the-movement of. the lower platenand piston rod 1 by. means of. apressureohamher which may be partially formed. from a dependent cylindrical boss 6 of; the platenv 6..

The upper, platen 5: is so. associated with the. apparatus or press of. the invention that. it, has limited sliding movement; with relationto the frame of the press I. Normally, this limited sliding. movement of the upper platen 5 is. in a horizontal plane andisconsidered: to bein a dime-.-

tion from the rear towards the front of the press so that from the normal operating position of the upper platen 5, it will be moved forwardly with relation to the remainder of the press prior to being moved arcuately and outwardly of the press to expose any mold carried thereby for insertion of parts thereinto, or removal of molded goods therefrom.

Fig. 1 of the drawings best shows that a mold section III may be carried by each of the press platens and 6. These mold sections may be secured in position in any desired manner. In all events, the upper platen 5 is shown as being provided with a rail, or strip, or bar ll adjacent the lower surface of each lateral edge thereof, which rail ll may be secured to the platen 5 by means of bolts or cap screws l2. The upper platen 5 is supported primarily by means of a pair of hanger or support arms 13 one of which is associated with each side of the upper platen 5. These hanger arms [3 are carried on a shaft l4 that is journaled in a dependent section 4 of the head member 4 and extends transversely thereof. The shaft l4 protrudes from each side of the section 4* Each of the hanger arms l3 has a slot or recess l5-formed on the inner surface thereof and normally extending substantially horizontally from the front to rear of the hanger arm for receipt of one of the rail sections ll carried by the upper platen. Thus, the upper platen is definitely positioned by, but slidable with relation to, the means supporting same.

Inasmuch as it is normally necessary; and highly desirable to limit the outward movement of the upper platen with relation to its support means, the platen 5 has suitable stop means associated therewith for limiting outward sliding movement of the platen 5 on the rails ll. Thus, end stops [6 are suitably associated with the rear end portions of the rails l I, in this instance, for limiting the forward movement of the upper platen 5. These end stops [6 are shown as being received in recessed sections I! one of which is formed in each of the hanger arms 13 at .the rear portion thereof immediately above the slot [5 formed therein for receiving the rail I I. Thus, when the predetermined forward movement of the upper platen 5 has occurred, the end stops IE will seat against the inner ends of each of the recessed sections I1 and prevent further forward or outward movement of the upper platen 5 with relation to its support means.

As a further feature of the present invention, the same means are used to rotate the upper platen 5 outwardly with relation to the press i as are used for sliding the upper platen 5 horizontally with relation to its support means. Fig. 3 best shows that a rack 18 is secured to the upper platen 5 by means of cap screws I9 and that a pinion gear 20, which is carried by the shaft I4, engages with the rack l8 for controlling movement of the upper platen 5. The pinion gear 20 is positioned in a cored out front bottom portion 400 of the section 4 of the head member 4. Movement, or rotation of the shaft [4 is in turn controlled in any suitable manner and in this instance there is shown a cylinder 2! which is positioned adjacent the rear portion of the press I and it has a piston rod 22 extending therefrom and connected to a piston 23 received in the cylinder 2|. Movement of the piston 23 through the cylinder 2| is controlled in any conventional manner by any desired means {not shown). Thus, it is possible for the piston attack? 4 rod 22 to be reciprocated so as to control rotation of the shaft M. The piston rod 22 is provided with a rack 24 that is cut into or otherwise associated with the lower surface of the piston rod 22 and this rack 24 engages with a pinion 25 which is secured to the shaft l4. Hence, the shaft 14 will be positively rotated by the rack 24 and pinion 25 associated therewith so as to cause the second pinion 20 to move the rack l8 and upper platen 5 in a desired manner so as to slide the upper platen 5 forwardly of the press in a horizontal plane until the end stop [6 limits further forward or outward movement of the upper platen. However, upon termination of such further sliding movement of the upper platen 5, continued rotation of the shaft I l by the rack 24 will cause the upper platen and any mold carried thereby, together with the hanger arms 13, to rotate as a unit in an are about the shaft l4.- Due to the partial removal of the platen 5 from the press by the horizontal motion of the platen, only a limited arcuate movement is required to expose, completely, any mold section Ii] supported by the upper platen 5 for loading or unloading action.

As a special feature of the present invention, it will be noted that the mold section carried by the platen 5 is actually substantially entirely without the confines of the machine I when such mold is being loaded or unloaded. The open position of the press is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. By the use of the combined horizontal movement of the upper platen, together with the ultimate arcuate movement of same, it is possible to open mold sections carried by the press with a minimum of over-all vertical movement in the press itself. The construction of the press of the invention lends itself to accurate alignment of the mold sections and to efficient mold operation.

One particularly important basic feature of the invention is that in closing the mold sections carried by the press platens of the present device, the exposed mold or press platen will initially start to move arcuately downwardly into a horizontal position after which the mold section will move rearwardly in a horizontal plane back into association with theother press platen for any desired molding operation. Thus, any careless operator would have a warning that the press was closing when the mold sections started towards each other and the upper press platen (mold section) would be swung down into a horizontal plane preparatory to a rearward sliding movement of same immediately prior to the closing of the mold sections. The mold sections normally would close only after the upper mold section was finally positioned.

The platen 5 is positioned in a definite or fixed manner for operation by aid of stop means provided in the apparatus. Thus, rearward arcuate movement of the hanger arms i3 is limited by means of substantially rectangular stop plates 26 (see Fig. 4) one of which is suitably secured to each of the sides of the section 4 of the head member 4 and extends vertically downwardly of the apparatus so as to form a vertical surface against which the rear portions of the hanger arms l3 can abut for limiting movement thereof. Cap screws I26 may secure the plates 26 to the upper platen.

Preferably certain centering means are also associated with the upper platen 5 and these. means also may serve to limit rearward movement of the upper platen prior to closing of strata:

the press of the invention. To this end, the

front portion of the upper platen '5, as shown in Fig. 3, has an upwardly extending flange 21 at its front edge to provide a relatively wide front portion for the upper platen and this aids in limiting rearward movement of the upper platen since such flange 21 will seat against the front edge of the section 4 of the head member E. The upper platen 5 is centered with relation to the. apparatus by means of vertically directed centering pins 2-9 one of which is carried by and suitably secured to the flange 21 adjacent each extremity thereof on the inner surface of same. The centering pins 2% are recessed partially in the flange 2'! and partially protrude therefrom. Vertically extending recesses 39 corresponding to the exposed sur faces of the pins 29 are formed in the section 4? for receipt of, and engagement with, portions of the centering pins 25 in order to center the upper platen with relation to the rest of the apparatus.

To aid in adjusting the neutral or operative position of the platen 5, it is desirable to have some kind of an adjusting device associated with the movable press platen. Furthermore, such adjustable member will assist the shaft M in supporting the movable platen 5.

Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings show that the outer end of the hanger arms :3 engage with slotted links 3| to aid in supporting the front portions of the hanger arms I3. These links 3| have vertically extending slots 32 formed therein and bolts 33, or equivalent securing devices, extend through the links at the lower end thereof to engage the links 3| with the hanger arms l3 but permit relative pivotal motion to occur therebetween. The upper ends of the links 3| are adjustably secured to the head members l of the press of the invention. These upper ends of the links 3| may be secured between a pair of spaced arms 34 of a pair of brackets 34 that are suitably associated with or formed upon the head member 4. One of the brackets 34 is adjacent each side of the press and the brackets 34 carry pins 35 or other equivalent securing devices extending between the arms 34 thereof and through the slots 32 so that the links 3| are adjustably carried by the brackets 34. As indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the links 3| can ride upwardly of the apparatus with movement of the upper platen 5. Fig. 3 also best shows that there is an adjustable set screw 36 that is engaged with the upper end of each of the links 3| and protrudes down into the slot 32 at the upper end of the slot 32 of each of the links. Thus, by adjustment of the engagement of the set screws 36 with the link 3|, the degree that the set screw 36 protrudes into the slot 32 can be varied. The lower end of the set screw 35 is preferably concave and bears upon the pin 35 to determine the no-load position of the upper end of the link 3|. A set screw locknut 31 is associated with each of the set screws 36 for lockin them in a given position. By adjusting the set screws 36, the no-load position of the front end of each of the hanger arms l3 can be controlled and a convenient, accurate adjustment of the position of the platen 5 is provided.

Fig. 3 also shows that a sleeve or bushing 40 may be provided in the head 4 to receive the shaft 22 therein for reciprocation with relation to the head member 4 of the press of the invention.

While the press of the invention has been shown and described with regard to a vertical position- 6 ing of the press and with the upper press section, beingthat which is movable, it will be realized that the press of the invention can be revised and rearranged without departing from the inventive concept. That is, it would be possible to make the upper mold platen merely reciprocable in a vertical direction along a vertical axis whereby the lower press platen could be slidable in a horizontal plane and then can be swung arcuately outwardly and downwardly with regards to the remainder of the apparatus. In some instances, it also would be possible to tilt the press of the invention'or even to lay the press upon its side, whereupon you still would obtain relative sliding movement between one press platen and the other one together with an ultimate arcuate movement of the one press platen with regards to the second press platen which would merely reciprocate along the frame of the press.

It will be noted that the press of the invention provides press platens which are so positioned as to permit ready access to the platens of the press and the mold sections carried thereby, by the operator of the press. Furthermore, the combined horizontal and ultimate arcuate movement of the movable press platen will permit the press platen to be exposed with a minimum of movement of the second press platen in a 'direction along the axis of the press. By exposing the press platen by arcuate movement of same,

it will be noticed that the press platen and mold section carried thereby are completely exposed to the operator and the operator is easily able to load and unload the mold sections carried by such exposed press platen.

It also should be noted that the head member 4 may be considered to be part of the frame of the press of the invention since it is stationarily positioned and fixedly secured thereto. Of course, the track means associating the one press platen slidably with the remainder of the frame may be secured to either one of the members With which such means are associated.

Figs. 1 and 3 indicate that two gears are provided in conjunction with the shaft 14 in order to provide sliding movement of the press platen 5. and ultimate arcuate movement of same. In some instances, it might be possible that the rack v22 may be engaged with the, same gear as the rack [8 carried by the press platen 5. In all events, it is contemplated that other conventional devices may be used for providing the respective movements of the parts of the press as shown and described herein.

While in accordance with the patent statutes, at least one embodiment of my invention has been described and set forth in detail, it is to be particularly understood that I am not to be limited thereto or thereby but that the scope of my invention is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A press comprising a plurality of support posts, a head member carried by said support posts, a piston slidably associated with said support posts, means for reciprocating said piston, a base platen carried by said piston, a head lplaten, shaft means journaled in said head member, a pair of hanger arms pivotally supported by said shaft means in spaced relation to support said head platen therebetween, said hanger arms having a slot along the inner face thereof, a rail secured along the side portions of said head platen, said rails being adapted to engage said slots for slidably supporting the head platen between the hanger arms, means associated with said head platen for limiting the sliding movement of said head platen with relation to said hanger arms, a rack associated with said head platen, and a gear carried by said shaft means and engaged with said rack to move said head platen to an extremity of its sliding movement on said hanger arms and. then to pivot the said hanger arms and head iplaten as a unit about said shaft means.

2. A press comprising a frame including a plurality of support posts, a head platen, shaft means journaled in said frame, a pair of hanger arms pivotally supported by said shaft means in spaced relation to support said head platen therebetween, said hanger arms having a slot along the inner face thereof, a rail secured along the side portions of said head platen, said rails being adapted to engage said slots for slidably supporting the head platen between the hanger arms, means associated with said head platen for limiting the outward sliding movement of said head platen with relation to said hanger arms,

a rack associated with said head platen, a gear carried by said shaft means and engaged with said rack to move said head platen to the outward extremity of its sliding movement on said hanger arms and then to pivot the said hanger arms and head platen as a unit about said shaft means, and means for rotating said gear.

3. A press comprising a frame, a pair of support arms, means journaling said support arms on said frame in spaced relation for rotary movement, a head platen, track means on said support arms for slidably supporting said head platen between said support arms for movementof said head platen in substantially a horizontal plane, stop means for limiting movement of said head platen in both forward and rear directions with relation to said frame, a piston-controlled member for moving said head platen relatively of said support arms to an extremity of its movement, and an operating member associated with said piston-controlled first member and adapted to slidably move the platen against said stop means and thereafter to rotate said platen and support arms as a unit with relation to the frame.

4. A press'comprising a frame, a pair of support arms journaled on said frame in spaced but parallel relation, 2. platen, said platen being slidably carried by said support arms for movement in a plane, means for limiting movement of said platen laterally outwardly with relation to said frame; and a rack and pinion member for moving said head platen relatively :of said support arms to an extremity of its movement and thereafter for pivoting said platen and support arms as a unit with relation to said frame.

5. A press as in claim 4 wherein a pair of links are carried by said frame and connect to said .platen at one edge thereof to support same, said support arms being freely pivotally journaled on said frame, said links being adjustable to provide means for regulating the operating position of said platen.

6. A press as in claim 4 wherein said platen is longer than said support arms and has stop and centering means mounted on the front edge portion thereof for abutting on said frame and registering with centering means mounted on the frame to position said platen accurately.

'7. A press as in claim 1 wherein a second gear ,is secured to said shaft means, a second rack is 8. A press comprising a frame, a pair of support arms pivotally carried by said frame, a platen, said platen being slidably carried by said support arms for normal sliding movement in a direction normal to the longitudinal axis of said frame, stop means for limiting sliding move ment of said platen with relation to said support arms, and unitary means engaging only said platen and on initial actuation thereof sliding said platen on said support arms until said stop means are operative whereby further actuation of said unitary means in the same direction effects a pivotal movement of said platen and support arms as a unit.

EUGENE B. SUTHERLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,399,843 Bowden Dec. 13, 1921 2,169,146 Iverson Aug. 8, 1939 2,171,511 Winegar et a1. Aug. 29, 1939 2,224,336 Bostwick Dec, 10, 1940 2,386,641 Trockle et al Oct. 9, 1945 2,431,048 Kilborn Nov. 18, 1947 

